Copy holder



Oct. 13, 1964 5.1-1. RASK ETAL 3,152,579

COPY HOLDER Original Filed June 27, 1958 3 Sheets-Shae: 1

ERIC H. RASK WALTER H.0LSON BY ELLSWORTH LRE/TSMA H TTORNE Y Oct. 13,1964 E. H. RASK ETAL 3,152,579

COPY HOLDER Original Filed June 2'7, 1958 3 Sheets-sheaf 2 FIGS INVENTORma H.RA WALT H. OLSON BY 4 LSWO LRE/TSMA 4 TT RNE Y Oct. 13, 1964 E. H.RASK ETAL COPY HOLDER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Original Filed June 27, 1958 FIG.IO

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ELLSWORTH L. RE/TSMA HTTORNE Y United States Patent 3,152,579 COPYHOLDER Eric H. Rask, West Hartford, Walter H. Olson, Westport, andEllsworth L. Reitsma, West Norwalk, Conn, assignors to Sperry RandCorporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Originalapplication June 27, 1958, Ser. No. 745,022, now Patent No. 2,956,545,dated Oct. 18, 1960. Divided and this application Feb. 17, 1960, Ser.No. 9,234

Claims. (Cl. 1'2032) This invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in copy holders especially those which are to be used inclose association with a typewriter and operated by the typist.

The main object of the invention is to provide a copy holder which issimple in construction, efiicient, economically manufactured, ornamentalin appearance, permits wide variation in paper feed with substantiallyno back lash and is adaptable for use with paper sheets andstenographers notebooks.

In brief and general terms, the invention comprises a stand including abase plate on which the rear portion of the typewriter rests. Uprightlegs extend from the base portion and support a casing in which isdisposed a paper platen, a platen drive member, and a pressure rollerhousing.

This assembly is pivotally connected to the base so that it may befolded down substantially flat with the base for convenience in storingand shipping.

A manually operated lever is disposed on the base and is connected tooperate a Bowden wire extending to the platen to operate a frictionclutch mechanism to turn the platen without any back lash or lostmotion. An adjustable cam associated with a hand wheel on the base maybe adjusted to interrupt the depression of said lever so that the platenfeed may be finely adjusted over a fairly wide range of movement.

The paper or the covers of a notebook may be pressed against the platenby pressure rollers disposed in a housing. This housing is pivoted andmay assume two positions. The rollers are backed by springs and in oneposition of the roller casing the pressure of the rollers is normal andin another position thereof the pressure of the roller casing can beachieved by manipulation of it around a pivot axis and when it is movedto the position of greatest pressure simple latches automatically engageto hold it in this position. These latches can be readily released bythe finger whereupon the roller casing springs back to said positionwherein the pressure of the rollers is normal.

There is also provided a line guide plate having two scales thereon withdifferent spacing and this guide is insertable in a slot in a pivotedhousing to be moved close to the paper when in use. The guide may beremoved and reversed to present the other scale to view when desired.

Simple means is also provided whereby the platen and drive assembly maybe readily adjusted vertically on the upright legs as may be desired bythe operator. The manual lever and cam assembly also may be adjustedeasily to and from the operators hand for her convenience.

The present preferred form which the invention may assume is illustratedin the drawings of which,

FIG. 1 is a partial front elevation of the device with parts broken awayand some parts in section;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation with some parts broken away;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial longitudinal cross section showing theconstruction of the platen drive;

FIG. 4 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG.3.;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical transverse section taken on line 5-5 ofFIG. 3 showing the parts in normal position;

FIG. 6 is a section similar to FIG. '5, but enlarged, showing the partsin position to turn the platen;

FIG. 7 is a vertical transverse section enlarged to show the paperpressure rollers in a position of increased pressure;

FIG. 8 is a similar view showing the rollers in a position of reducedpressure;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 99 of FIG. 7;

FIG. P0 is a partial elevation of an improved line guide; and,

FIG. 11 is a partial elevation of the line guide in position in itsholder.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 745,022 filedJune 27, 1958, now Patent No. 2,956,545, October 18,1960.

Referring to the drawings there is a base plate 20 which extends acrossthe rear of the device and rests on a suitable support such as atypewriter table. At its ends this plate 20 has turned up flanges 21acting as journals for a cross bar 22 disposed across and above the baseplate 20. On one end an elongate plate 23 is fixed to the bar 22 and hasthereon a bolt 24 which extends through a slot 25 in a supporting plate26 fixed to the base plate just inside the flange 21 as shown in FIG. 2The bolt 24 has a wing nut 24a thereon whereby the position of the plate23 may be adjusted as desired within the limits of the slot 25. Thesupporting plate 26 has another hole 27 therein disposed along the arcof curvature of the slot 25 so that when the bolt 24 and the wing nut24a are removed, the plate 23 with its associated elements may be swungdown and the bolt and nut reengaged in the hole 27. This will permit theupper portion of the copy holder to be folded down for convenience inshipping and packing.

Platen Feed Adjustment The supporting plate 26 has a horizontal elongateslot 28 therein. Disposed alongside the supporting plate 26 and slidableon the base plate 20 is a bracket 29 having a bolt and nut connection 30with the slot 28 so that the casing 29' surrounding the bracket 29 canbe adjusted back and forth for reasons later described. Pivoted on ashaft 31 within and between the walls of the casing 29' is a lever 32,preferably manipulated by the operator of the typewriter. The forwardend 33 of this lever lies beneath a cam 34 fixed to a shaft 35journalled between the side Walls of the casing 29'. A hand wheel 36 isfixed to the shaft 35 and its top portion extends slightly above the topof the casing through a slot (not shown) so that the operator maymanipulate the Wheel and thus position the cam 34. The curvature of thecam is such that as it is turned by the wheel the front end of the lever32 may be moved variable distances before being stopped by contact withthe surface of the cam. Pivoted at 37 to a side wall of the bracket 29is an arm 38 to the lower end of which is connected a Bowden wire 39which then extends into and through a sheath 40 which extends upwardlytowards a platen later described. The previously mentioned adjustment ofthe casing 29 will permit the operator to position the forward end ofthe lever 32 most conveniently to her hand while seated at thetypewriter. A stud 41 fixed to the side of the lever 32, projectsthrough an opening 42 in a wall of the bracket 29 and is adapted to bearagainst the adjacent edge of the arm 38. A spring 43 is connected at oneend to the stud 41 and at the other end to the bracket (not shown) torestore the lever 32 to normal position. It is clear that when the lever32 is depressed by the operator, the arm 38 is swung clockwise to pullthe Bowden wire forward.

Paper Platen Support Rising from the cross bar 22 and fixed thereto attheir lower ends are two spaced rods 44 the upper ends of which passthrough holes (not shown) in the base portion 45 of a U-shaped frame thelegs of which 46 and 47 extend upwardly and forwardly as shown in FIG.2. To the upper ends of these legs 46 and 47 are pivvotally connectedthe side walls 48 and 49 of a casing which acts as a housing for aplaten 50 and a drive mechanism for the platen subsequently described.As shown in FIG. 2, a tie rod 51 extends between the walls 48 and 49 ofthe casing and is threaded on each end and has a sleeve nut 52adjustably disposed thereon to bear against the inner face of the walls48 and 49. The rod extends through the walls and a tightening nut 53(FIG. 8) is adjustable to hold the casing and its enclosed elements inany desired position on the legs 46 and 47.

In order to dispose the casing and the platen at the desired level,there is provided a U-shaped plate having a vertical base portion 54 andhorizontal leg portions 55. These leg portions are apertured (not shown)to slide the plate up and down on the rods 44. The upper leg 55 iswelded to the base frame portion 45. To latch the plate in a desiredvertical position, latch plates 56 are apertured to receive the rods 44and one end of each is apertured to slide on a stub shaft 57 and isnormally held upwardly by a spring 58. In this normal position of thelatch plates bite onto the rods 44 and hold the plate 54 in any desiredposition. When the other ends of the latch plates are pulled up by theoperators fingers the bite is removed and the plate 54 may be movedalong the rods 44 to the desired position when the latch plates arereleased to assume their biting position.

Platen Operating Mechanism The upper end of the sheath 40 (FIGS. 3 and4) is clamped to the tie rod 51 by any suitable bracket clamp 59. Theupper end of the wire 39 is connected to the outer end of an arm 60which is pulled down when the lever 32 is depressed by the operator. Aspring 61 is connected to the arm to restore the arm to normal positionand to return the wire 39 to normal. The other end of the arm 60 isprovided with an aperture into which fits the squared rear stem 62 of abushing 63 the outer end of which has a slot 64 therein. Adjacent thesquared portion of the stem 62 there is a circular portion 65 thereofwhich passes through an opening in a plate 66 which is freely rotatableon the shaft 67 of the copy holding platen 68. The platen 68 is fixed tothe shaft 67 by a set screw 69. A block 70 is fixed to the platen shaftby a set screw 71. The right side of this block is provided with acircular cup-shaped flange 72 which passes through the slot 64 of thebushing 62. In the normal position of the parts shown in FIG. 5 thewalls of the bushing slot are substantially tangent to the curvature ofthe flange 72. However when the Bowden wire is pulled down as describedthe bushing 63 is turned and the walls of the slot thereon bite againstthe flange '72 and turn it and with it the platen shaft to which theblock 70 is fixed. The amount to which the shaft is thus turned dependsupon the position of the cam 34 which has been pre-set by the operator.Referring to FIG. 3, it will be seen that there is a coiled spring 70'disposed around the shaft 67 between the end of the platen 68 and theplate 66 to hold the plate 66 firmly against the adjacent face of theblock 70. There is also a coiled spring 67 around the shaft 67 betweenthe outer face of the side wall 49 and the operating knob 68 on theouter end of the shaft 67. The spring 67 will tend to keep the entireassembly associated with the shaft 67 to the right and hold the rightface of the block 70 firmly against the inner face of the side wall 49so that the platen cannot turn too freely.

The arm 60 has thereon a stud 73 which, in the normal position of theparts (FIG. 5), bears against a side edge of the plate 66, under theinfluence of spring 61 to hold the plate 66 against the wall of thecasing. As the bite of the flange is effected the flange turns and thebushing and the plate 66 revolve with it around the shaft 67, until thelever 32 is released and the spring 61 returns the parts to normal. Thesetting of the cam 34 will permit movement of the platen surface over arange of from O to five-eighths of an inch in one preferred arrangementof the parts. The action is even and smooth and there are no ratchets orpawls involved to give an intermittent motion to the parts, and no backlash.

Paper Pressure Roller Adjustment The paper pressure rollers 74 aredisposed within a casing 75 separate from the casing enclosing theplaten and the platen drive mechanism. This casing 75 has a bottom wall76 and side walls 77 which are upwardly extended in the form of arms 78which at their upper ends are pivotally mounted on a rod '79 whichextends across the main casing between the side walls 48 and 49 thereof.This permits the casing 75 to be toward and away from the platen so thatthe pressure of the rollers thereon may be varied at will. When paper oflight weight is passing between the platen and the rollers the pressureof the rollers on the paper need only be light but when several layersof paper are thus disposed or when the cover plates of a stenographersnote book are thus disposed the pressure of the rollers must beincreased considerably.

There are a plurality of parts of rollers and they are mounted in pairsone above the other between triangular plates 86. These plates 80 arecross connected at their inner ends at 82. These pairs of plates 80 arepivoted on pins 81 between spaced plates 83 which are cross connected attheir lower edges by a dependent plate 84 which extends down through achannel guide bracket 85 and the lower end of this plate 84 is curvedaround as at 86 and rests on the bottom wall 76 of the casing 75 topermit a free pivotal movement of the entire roller unit to and from theplaten 68. In this channel guid bracket 85 there is also disposed aU-shaped spring plate 87 the base of which rests upon the bottom wall76. One leg of this spring plate 87 is bent over the top of the plate 84and the upper end of the other leg of this spring plate 87 bears againstthe wall of the casing 75. This spring plate 87 tends to keep the rollerpairs firmly against the platen to give a light pressure on the rollerswhen they are disposed in the position shown in FIG. 8 and a heavierpressure thereon when they are in the position shown in FIG. 7.

To adjust the roller casing in one position or the other there areprovided latch plates 88 pivoted to the outer sides of the main casingwalls 48 and 49. These latch plates are provided with bayonet slots 89and these are adapted to receive pins 90 extending from the lower sidewalls 77. By manual pressure on the lower portion of casing 75 thecasing can be pivoted inwardly to the position shown in FIG. 7, with thelatch plates 83 positioned as shown. A spring 91 associated with eachlatch plate will tend to move it down to the position shown in FIG. 7 tohold the casing in this inwardly pivoted position wherein the rollerpressure is greatest. By merely pulling up with the finger on the endsof the latch plates 88 the pressure of the spring 87 will force thecasing to the position shown in FIG. 8 in which the roller pressure isnormal and adapted for a lighter weight of material between the rollersand the platen.

There is also provided a channel member 92 pivoted by side arms 93through screws 94 to the sides of the casing 75 and this channel memberis adapted to receive a line guide element 95 which along its medianlongitudinal portion provided with spaced scales 96 and 97 graduated todifferent scales of length. For instance, one scale may have graduationsten to the inch whereas the other one is graduated twelve to the inch.This is for the purposes of associating the scale with typed matterwhich may be formed in one or another kind of type such as pica orelite. As shown in FIG. 11 the desired scale is disposed above the topof the channel member by inserting the guide in the slot and when theother scale is to be exhibited the guide is withdrawn and reversed withthe desired other scale presented to view.

While we have described what we consider to be a highly desirableembodiment of our invention, it is obvious that many changes in formcould be made without departing from the invention, and we, therefore,do not limit ourselves to the exact form shown and described, nor toanything less than the whole of our invention as hereinbefore set forth,and as hereinafter claimed.

What we claim is:

1. A copy holder; comprising (a) a paper platen adapted to receive copythereabout;

(b) a clutch mechanism coacting with said platen to operate the same andthereby effect a movement of said paper, platen and copy;

(c) a movable key lever having an arcuate seat portion;

(d) a connection between said lever and said clutch mechanism fortransmitting the motion of said key lever to said clutch mechanism andthereby to said paper platen and copy;

(e) a manually adjustable cam having a curved portion disposed in thepath of movement of said arcuate seat portion of said key lever andadapted to arrest the movement of said key lever; and

(f) hand wheel means for adjusting the cam to define the amount ofmovement of said key lever, and thereby said clutch mechanism, paperplaten, and copy.

2. The copy holder of claim 1; including a shaft mounting said paperplaten for rotary movement, said clutch mechanism comprising (a) abushing mounted for rotary movement about said shaft and having formedtherein a slot defined by spaced wall members; and

(b) a cup shaped member fixed on said shaft and having formed thereon aflange, disposed in said slot and adapted to be gripped by said spacedWall mem here during rotary movement of said bushing about said shaft;

(c) said connection between said key lever and said clutch mechanismbeing to said bushing.

3. The copy holder of cailm 2, including (a) a casing, defined by aplurality of spaced walls,

for enclosing said paper platen;

(b) said shafe extending through one of said spaced walls and beyondsaid casing;

(c) said cup shaped member being disposed adjacent said one of saidspaced walls;

(d) said bushing being disposed adjacent said cup shaped member; and

(e) a spring disposed between the platen and said bushing urging sameagainst said cup shaped member and preventing axial movement of saidbushing along said shaft.

4. The copy holder of claim 3; including (a) a knob attached to the endof said shaft which extends through said'one of said spaced walls ofsaid casing; and

(b) a spring mounted on said shaft between said knob and said one ofsaid spaced walls of said casing and urging said cup shaped member intofrictional contact with said one of said spaced walls of said casing.

5. A copy holder intended during use to be disposed closely adjacent theback of a typewriter; comprising (a) a base member adapted to bedisposed between the rear part of a typewriter;

(b) a platen casing mounted on said base member so as to overlay theupper rear edge of the typewriter;

(c) a platen shaft rotatably mounted in said platen casing;

(d) a friction clutch mechanism disposed in said platen casing forcoaction with said platen shaft to effect rotation thereof;

(e) a key finger lever for operating said friction clutch mechanism;

(f) means flexibly interconnecting said key finger lever to saidfritcion clutch mechanism;

(g) bracket means pivotally mounting said key finger lever;

(h) an arcuate seat portion formed on said key finger lever;

(i) a manually adjustable cam carried by said bracket means and having acurved portion formed thereon and disposed in the path of movement ofsaid key finger lever for sliding engagement with said arcuate seatportion thereof to govern the extent of pivotal movement thereof andthereby of said clutch mechanism and said paper platen;

(j) a flange formed on said base member; and

(k) means adjustably mounting said bracket means to said flange formovement with respect thereto to facilitate disposition and operation ofsaid key finger lever.

6. The copy holder of claim 5 wherein said clutch mechanism includes (a)an arm rotatable on said platen shaft;

(b) a bushing carried by said arm and having formed therein a slotdefined by a pair of spaced walls;

(0) a block fixed to said platen shaft in juxtaposition to said arm;

(d) a cup shaped flange formed on said block and adapted to be disposedin said slot between said pair of spaced walls thereof;

(e) said flexible interconnecting means extending between said keyfinger lever and said arm.

7. The copy holder of claim 5 including knobs on said platen shaft forrotating same irrespective of the operation of said clutch mechanism.

8. The copy holder of claim 5; including (a) upright legs carried bysaid base members and mounting said platen casing; and

(b) spring actuated latch plates mounted on said platen casing andengaging said upright legs for vertically adjusting the position of saidplaten casing with respect to said base member.

9. The copy holder of claim 5; including (a) legs pivotally mounted tosaid flange;

(b) platen casing supporting plates extending from said legs andsupporting said platen casing; and

(c) arcuate adjustment means on said flange for setting the pivotalposition of said legs with respect to said base member.

10. The copy holder of claim 9 wherein said supporting plates arepivoted on said platen casing for eye level viewing adjustment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS278,137 Hill May 22, 1883 425,406 Chase Apr. 15, 1890 1,244,322 GrayOct. 23, 1917 1,637,384 Marlatt Aug. 2, 1927 1,773,879 Sharp Aug. 26,1930 2,068,894 Talley Jan. 26, 1937 2,595,647 Du Mais May 6, 19522,736,526 Forbes Feb. 28, 1956 2,803,218 Reutter Aug. 20, 1957 2,866,446Feuerstein et al Dec. 30, 1958

1. A COPY HOLDER; COMPRISING (A) A PAPER PLATEN ADAPTED TO RECEIVE COPYTHEREABOUT; (B) A CLUTCH MECHANISM COACTING WITH SAID PLATEN TO OPERATETHE SAME AND THEREBY EFFECT A MOVEMENT OF SAID PAPER, PLATEN AND COPY;(C) A MOVABLE KEY LEVER HAVING AN ARCUATE SEAT PORTION; (D) A CONNECTIONBETWEEN SAID LEVER AND SAID CLUTCH MECHANISM FOR TRANSMITTING THE MOTIONOF SAID KEY LEVER TO SAID CLUTCH MECHANISM AND THEREBY TO SAID PAPERPLATEN AND COPY;